Has anyone ever tried to convert doser Rocky to doserless?

[jrd1955]

I got a Rocky with the doser and am kicking myself. The doser is pretty useless as it does not consistently dose anything close to 7 grams (more like 5). So instead of using the doser, I measure the beans by volume (which gives a pretty consistent weight) and grind what I need. I then catch the ground coffee in the same container I measured the beans with. It works, but I think I would have been happier with a doserless.

Has anyone ever tried to remove the doser from a Rocky?

Jim

[HB]

Dosers (in the sense of metering out precise portions) are designed for busy cafes that fill the chamber at least halfway so the weight of the grinds is enough to fill each "wedge" properly. You'll hear vigorous "thwack thwack thwack" on the doser handles in more cafes these days as they switch to grinding to order, which is the only practical choice for home baristas. I owned a Rocky doserless and I've tried several other doserless grinders; to my surprise, I've come to prefer dosers because (a) I don't have to hold the portafilter while the grinder does its work if I don't want to, (b) I can thwack the handle to agitate the grinds a little more, resulting in less clumping and better distribution.

For me, the key to living with dosers in a home environment was improving the sweep efficiency:


Increase sweep efficiency by adding tape to the trailing edge of the Mazzer's doser vanes

With this sort of modification, practically all of what goes in comes out, giving me most of the advantages of doserless (no mess) with the added advantage of a "staging area" for grinds and potentially less clumping / better distribution. If I haven't convinced you to give Rocky's doser a second try, more radical surgery is described in "I civilized my Rocky".

PS: Also see Super Jolly doserless modification for a machinist's approach to the problem.

[miKe mcKoffee]

I'm in the same camp as Dan. I prefer having a doser aka grinds dispenser. Tape mod also all six blades for a nice clean sweep. I always measure the whole beans for whatever I'm going to be brewing and never store beans in the hopper. Found a little SS canister to use as a grinds catcher, fill PF or vac or press pot or whatever from it. http://home.comcast.net/~mdmint/c.../Rockycanister.htm (PF fork holder removed)

When doing a series of shots I'll load the hopper with required beans and I fill the PF from the canister while over the doser and do my PF level swipe back into the doser.

[jrd1955]

I did the mod on the Rocky. Took a slightly different approach.

I used duct tape.

I used two pieces per fin. One piece protrudes from and sweeps the bottom. The other piece protrudes from and sweeps the outside.

I also removed the metal plate that divides the top set of fins from the lower set. It seemed to me to serve no purpose in the doser's new role as a fluffer.

I'm quite happy with how this all works.

Jim

[msurdyk]

I did a similar mod to the blades of my doser for a year or two - but then I simply removed the entire doser and fashioned an extension to the open chute. I tried several chutes and have settled on one made from a plastic 1/2 gal milk container. It sticks out 1/2" from the bottom of the base to allow me to hold the portafilter under the lip of the chute.

It's a little hard to describe well and at the moment I'm moving and can't take a picture to post.

The other caveat - I live in central Florida and had my coffee roasting and brewing gear set up on a covered outside wet bar so a few stray coffee grounds were never a concern.